**** Furaido has closed
Back in the comments section of my Bonchon post, "RedDevil" asked me if I had been to the new KFC place that opened in Atlas Market. I'd already heard about the place and had in on my list; so on holiday weekend, after working the morning I headed over.
The good thing about Furaido is that they open at 1030 in the morning; so I could easily beat the crowds.
Located in the Food Court area; Furaido claims to serve gluten free fried chicken; which means it's probably using rice flour and the texture of the wings reflected that. The wings come from the market and are Halal as well.
On both my visit I got the 10 piece wings; because; well, I'm all about wings. You get two choices for a glaze or "dip" or dust..
I went with the Devil Garlic and like Kirbie (please check out her post), I was fascinated by the having Furikake on my wings as well.
A couple of observations that were true for all the wings and drumettes I had here. The batter is obviously rice flour based and on the crumbly-hard side than crunchy. It is not oily and the fat has been rendered nicely on these wings. The batter is also quite dry and is not seasoned; more on that below. I believe they also over fry the drumettes which make them tough and dry. The wings are large; which can through off moisture, and skin to meat ratios….I prefer my wings smaller; bigger is not necessarily better, and these tend toward being over battered….I mean you work hard to render the fat and develop a nice light crisp skin; why cover it in a ton of batter?
The Red Devil (thinking of you RD!) Garlic; while not quite turning the wings a shade of red was my favorite here; it wasn't too sweet, slightly spicy, and best of all, the wings weren't just drenched in sauce.
The Furikake wings needed a kick up in flavor as; like I mentioned before, the initial product is not seasoned, so this was bland; there's no moisture from a sauce or glaze; so these are even drier.
Overall; plus – minus.
Between visits; "SomTommy" emailed me and said he enjoyed the Garlic Soy Wings and "Top Secret" Dip on his wings and so on my follow-up visit….
Man, these were fried even harder and was even more crumbly. Can you tell which one has the Garlic Soy? It's the one on the left; it was very lightly sauced which I would usually appreciate, but the unseasoned and dry wings needed more.
As for the Top Secret……with a tip of the hat to "FOY" CC, do you remember what the "secret sauce" at Bronco Burger was? Yep, that was this.
So, in the end; the Devil Garlic Glaze is what I enjoyed the most. The wings here have too much batter for my taste; even more than Cross Street. If you like a thick batter and larger wings and drumettes; you might enjoy Furaido. But get a glaze or Dipp; or enough "dust" because the chicken isn't seasoned enough on its own. As for me; well, I wouldn't go out of the way to visit Furaido.
For a different perspective please check out Soo's post along with the afore mentioned post by Kirbie.
Furaido Premium Chicken Company (Inside Atlas Market)
14837 Pomerado Rd.
Poway, CA 92064
Hours:
Open Daily 1030 – 8pm